Clinton plan draws fire from gun lobby

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A proposal by President Clinton to tighten the sale of weapons at gun shows nationwide is a "public relations stunt," a National Rifle Association official said Friday.

Clinton is expected to focus on the issue in his weekly radio address today, calling for tightening of the Brady bill to further restrict weapons sales at some 5,000 gun shows. Clinton referred to the shows as "illegal arms bazaars" in a radio speech Nov. 7.

At the time, he asked the Justice and Treasury departments to study the problem of guns being illegally sold at the shows. He is expected to respond today to a report compiled by the two departments.

Wayne R. LaPierre Jr., chief executive officer of the Fairfax, Va.-based NRA, said the federal government is not prosecuting felons that are identified under the existing Brady bill provisions.

"This is public relations masquerading as substance," LaPierre said of the president's effort. "It's hollow and it means nothing to felons on the streets. This is an attempt to put the federal government on the backs of more people."

The Brady bill requires a five-day waiting period and background checks for gun purchases from licensed dealers at gun shows, but hobbyists selling from their private collections are exempt. Clinton proposed extending the background check to all weapons buyers.

In his Nov. 7 radio address, Clinton said some gun shows have become "illegal arms bazaars for criminals and gun traffickers to buy and sell guns on a cash-and-carry, no-questions-asked basis."

NRA lobbyist James Baker that said in the past two years there have been only four prosecutions of illegal dealings at gun shows. "If they know about them, why aren't they arresting them," Baker said of administration concerns over illegal trafficking at the shows.

"There is no reason to pass one more law that the Clinton administration has no intention of enforcing," Baker said, appearing at a news conference with LaPierre. "Their own data doesn't support the changes if they've had only four arrests and prosecutions."

Baker said the Clinton administration has "since the first day they walked in the door" tried to stifle "the ability of law-abiding citizens to purchase firearms."

Justice Department figures show that out of 800,000 gun sale transactions, 13,000 buyers were denied because of criminal records, the NRA lobbyist said.

"Out of those 13,000, nobody was arrested," Baker said.

"Let's get the bad guys off the streets," Baker said, reciting an NRA contention that gun laws impact law-abiding citizens while criminals circumvent the legal system.

"Every cop on the street knows that when they catch a criminal on the street with a gun and try to prosecute them federally, the case falls into a black hole," said LaPierre.

"You can go out and ask 20 street cops what happens when you catch a convicted felon with a gun and take the case to the feds," LaPierre said. "They're told to take a hike."

LaPierre and Baker said the NRA is pushing for federal funds to implement nationwide a program started in Richmond, Va., called "Project Exile."

The program - a joint local-state-federal effort - provides funding for additional federal prosecutors to pursue cases of criminals caught with guns.

LaPierre said "Project Exile" had cut the murder rate in Richmond by 60 percent.

"We should have enough money to parachute `Project Exile' into every major city with a crime problem," LaPierre said.